Are you thinking about buying a home? One of the details in the home buying process is qualifying for a home loan. There are certain costs involved with obtaining a mortgage called closing costs. What are closing costs?

Title Search - Covers the costs to confirm the seller own's the property and it is free from liens.

Title Insurance - Protects the lender and you (if you request policy coverage) if a title claim surfaces in the future.

Termite Inspection Fee - Inspection is required to certify the home is free of termite damage or infestation.

Survey Fee - Charge to verify property boundaries.

Flood Certification Fee - Covers the cost to determine if home is in federally designated flood zone. If it is, the lender will require you to purchase flood insurance. Some lenders also charge a separate flood monitoring fee to check for flood map updates.

Prepaid Interest - Covers any mortgage interest due between the date of closing and your first mortgage payment.

Prorated Property Taxes - Covers property taxes from the date of closing to the end of the year.

Homeowner's Insurance - Typically, you will pay the full first year policy cost upfront at closing.

Homeowner's Association Transfer Fee - Paid on properties located in a community with a homeowners association to transfer ownership documents to you, as the new owner.

Initial Escrow - Lender may require the first two months of next year's homeowner's insurance, flood insurance and property taxes to build up a reserve balance in your escrow account.

Closing or Settlement Fee - Paid to the title company, attorney or escrow company that conducts the closing.

Recording Fee - Paid to the state or county to record the transfer of property from one owner to another in public records.

Transfer Tax - Also known as Documentary Stamps, paid to the state or county based on the amount of the mortgage. This fee is charged when a property changes ownership.

We hope this helps explain and answer your question....What Are Closing Costs?

You can even look at your specific zip code within each of these cities. All market data is updated in real time on the 15th of each month for the previous month's reports. The data is from My Florida Regional multiple listing service powered by Real Estate Business Intelligence and provided as a courtesy to by Native Palm Properties.

So check Polk County October 2017 Market Updates and check back each month for your zip code information.

Create strong passwords for your computer and smart devices and change them regularly.

Add lock-out software that blocks access to your computer when you're not using it.

Never access or send financial or personal information when connected to a free Wi-Fi hub or charging stations.

Seek referrals before choosing a lender. And never send sensitive information without first meeting the lender in person.

Never open suspicious emails or attachments, even if they appear to be from your lender or RealtorR.

Use caution if posting information about your purchase on social media, where it can be mined by scammers.

Never email sensitive information. Instead, send it by courier, drop off the documents in person or use a secure, encrypted document-sharing platform.

Ask your Realtor and lender who will have access to your personal information and how it will be disposed of if it's not needed when your transaction is complete. Will it be shredded or stored in a secure location?

Work only with a lender who uses dual controls on sire transfers so no money can be moved until two employees independently approve the transfer.

Never wire funds until you have phoned a trusted source to confirm that all the information in the wiring instructions is accurate.

Let's review the latest Polk County real estate market trends as of September 2017. If you live in Lakeland, Mulberry, Bartow, Auburndale or Winter Haven then you can check out the latest data every month by simply visiting our website and clicking on the linked page with charts and graphs showing detailed sales activity, average sale price, the average days on market and many more facts.

Keep track every month as this data is updated automatically from our My Florida Regional MLS system's Smart Charts. Typically this data is updated around the 15th of each month for the previous month. You can track monthly data, year over year and see the statistical trend versus the 5 year average.

If you live in Polk County, Florida then you won't want to miss the latest Polk County real estate market trends for 2017! Just click the links below and follow the link to each zip code.